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08/11/2009 - 5:20pm“There’s Only 58, So Get Over It!”Actually, Bat, I just borrowed the idea. There are baseball caps for sale with "SOB" printed on the front in large letters with "Sweet Old Buddy" beneath in tiny letters. The first time I ever saw one was in 1970 when a fellow graduate student at the University of Illinois ...
08/11/2009 - 7:32am“There’s Only 58, So Get Over It!”I couldn't agree with you more, Rangertoo. I've written on this topic before, and I intend to do it again. Traveler readers who've joined this general thread late might want to have a look at our article [url=http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/node/3004/edit]"Are There Really 391 Units in the National Park System? You Won’t Think ...
08/11/2009 - 7:27am“There’s Only 58, So Get Over It!”Anon: Of course you can count repeats if you want to! It's your hobby.... :o)
08/11/2009 - 7:14amNational Park System Quiz 62: Paired ParksI agree, toothdoctor, and I've edited the answer to align it with the historical facts you've brought to my attention. Sequoia National Park was created on September 25, 1890, but Kings Canyon National Park was not created until March 4, 1940. When Kings Canyon was established, the tiny General Grant ...
08/08/2009 - 1:28pmHeat Claims the Life of Boy Stranded for Five Days in Isolated Area of Death Valley National ParkEarlier this year, my traveling companions and I had an experience reminiscent of the stranding that led to this youngster's tragic death. While driving north out of Trona late in the afternoon we spotted a family car (not an SUV) stuck on a dirt "road" not far off the main ...
08/08/2009 - 12:27pmStudies Show Summer Traffic in Yellowstone National Park Not As Polluting As Snowmobiles in WinterInteresting observations, Frank. Winter calm in Yellowstone is commonly associated with temperature inversions (cold air trapped at surface by warmer layer of air aloft; this is the opposite of the normal). As you've pointed out, pollution "hangs like a blanket" and gets more and more concentrated because there's no breeze ...
08/08/2009 - 9:01amHeat Claims the Life of Boy Stranded for Five Days in Isolated Area of Death Valley National ParkMedia reports have it that the 28-year old mother is a nurse. It's kind of perplexing to think that an experienced health care professional would be unable to recognize the lethal risks she was taking with the three lives in that car. Now this poor woman will be haunted every ...
08/07/2009 - 1:10pmHappy Birthday to the National Park Service Arrowhead EmblemMaria: The official Arrowhead emblem items(s) you want to buy are, as far as I know, sold by the NPS Arrowhead Store only to authorized purchasers -- a list that is restricted to park rangers, ex park rangers, park volunteer workers (V.I.P's), park partners, and other specified classes of personnel ...
08/05/2009 - 5:29pmNational Park System Quiz 66: CemeteriesGood catch, xnprngr, and I do thank you very kindly. I made the fix. Now, prepare for some weaselspeak. Several years ago I visited Coloma (ghost town) in the California gold country incident to a stay at Sierra City and some hiking on the PCT. That's surely why I wrote ...
08/01/2009 - 7:49amAt New River Gorge National River, an Iconic Bridge Attracts Suicide JumpersBrian, I'm not sure what you mean by town practices. Could you expand on that a little?
07/31/2009 - 5:25am9-Year-Old Killed By Rock Slide at Lassen Volcanic National ParkWhoa, Anon. Referring to an entire mountain as a peak is a practice as common as dirt. If you really want to avoid confusion when referring to the very top of the mountain, use the word summit.
07/30/2009 - 1:25pmBy the Numbers: Death Valley WeatherYour assumptions are right on the mark, Kirby. Annual physioclimatic stress (total annual mount of heat stress [i]plus[/i] cold stress) can be calculated for any location if you've got the requisite weather data (daily temperature, humidity, windspeed, and sunshine conditions). Once you've done the calculations for hundreds of weather stations, ...
07/30/2009 - 12:58pmBy the Numbers: Death Valley Weather@ RangerLady: The Korean visitor you mentioned, a 52-year old woman, was one of six South Korean nationals who ran afoul of heat stress problems last Sunday afternoon while walking in Death Valley's Mesquite Dunes (near Stove Pipe Wells). It was 123 degrees at the time, and ground temperatures were ...
07/30/2009 - 12:08pmNational Park System Quiz 65: DunesI haven't tried that trail yet, Kevin, but I'll sure put it on my to-list for my next visit.
07/29/2009 - 2:28pmNational Park System Quiz 65: DunesThanks for the feedback, Mike. There are many NPS units with singing sand, and I regret that space didn't permit listing all of them in that quiz item. Somewhere in my "to-do queue" I've got an outline for an article on singing sand. When I get around to writing it, ...
07/29/2009 - 6:42amNational Park System Quiz 65: DunesKevin, have you ever stood at the top of the dune and had the upslope wind sandblast the top 0.16 inch off your skin? It's very bracing, but it makes you as mean as a badger.
07/29/2009 - 6:06amReader Participation Day: What's Your Favorite National Park Trail?I've never hiked Panorama Trail, Bill. And I should do that the first chance i get because.....?
07/28/2009 - 6:47pmGreenpeace Activists Face Slew of Charges For Their Stunt At Mount Rushmore National MemorialThe name calling and personal attacks in this thread will cease and desist. Right now.
07/28/2009 - 5:39pmBy the Numbers: Death Valley WeatherPeople living in North Dakota are subjected to very high annual physioclimatic stress (cumulative stress) because it's not only very cold and windy up there in the winter, but also quite hot in the summer. I've never calculated the annual stress or the proportional cumulative stress for Furnace Creek (though ...
07/28/2009 - 11:05amBy the Numbers: Death Valley WeatherA stiff breeze sure won't do you any good when it gets that hot. Normal skin temperature is 91 degrees, plus or minus about two degrees, so any time the ambient air temperature is hotter than that, the breeze will add heat to your body. Because summer evaporation rates are ...
07/28/2009 - 8:27amGreenpeace Activists Face Slew of Charges For Their Stunt At Mount Rushmore National MemorialSpeaking of AIM, isn't Leonard Peltier about due for parole?
07/28/2009 - 5:09amErrant Boater Hits Bridge, Forcing Closure of a Section of the Colonial ParkwayAs far as I can tell, authorities haven't said what kind of boat they are looking for. The boat that was responsible for this hit-and-run must have been fairly substantially built to have done the damage described in news reports. The direct hit on the bridge piling shattered the concrete, ...
07/27/2009 - 5:31amAncient Mammal Footprints Excite Paleontologists at Dinosaur National MonumentThanks, Dan. This is fascinating stuff. Sounds like you'll need several lifetimes to get the Glen Canyon Group facts sorted out. Will you at some point be seeking volunteer workers for this project?
07/26/2009 - 2:28pmAncient Mammal Footprints Excite Paleontologists at Dinosaur National MonumentThank you very kindly, Dr. Chure. (Man, when you invite somebody "in the know" to chime in, you never know what you're going to get!) Since you are one of the scientists who found this amazing site, is there any other personal observation that you'd like to make? And BTW, ...
07/26/2009 - 12:10pmNational Park System Quiz 59: OnlyYou are quite right, Moi. Nice catch. The clarification didn't change the question's answer (which is still William Howard Taft), but I edited the answer explanation to remove the erroneous statement that you caught.
07/26/2009 - 8:43am“Uncle Bob,” Said Brian, “I Would Really, Really Like to See Fort Sumter”Yes, Kirby, quite a downer. But hey, it was a long time ago. To clarify the boat tour information: Fort Sumter Tours, an authorized National Park Service concessioner, provides the only commercial boat transportation to Fort Sumter. There are two ticket offices – that is, two places where you can ...
07/25/2009 - 7:27amNew Visitor Center Coming to Great Smoky Mountains National ParkBetty: I can't answer that question myself. Maybe another Traveler reader can? I take it that you have already checked out the park's Auto Touring site [url=http://]www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/autotouring.htm[/url]? You may have to contact the park directly to ask your specific question.
07/25/2009 - 4:40amAncient Mammal Footprints Excite Paleontologists at Dinosaur National MonumentThanks for writing, azborn2001. It's always nice to get positive feedback and interesting comments/questions. I don't know about any claw marks that might be visible in the footprint impressions at this particular trackway. Maybe somebody in the know will chime in on this one. While I have your attention, let ...
07/24/2009 - 5:40pmSurvey Results Label the French as the World’s Worst TouristsI'm sorry, RangerLady, but that "we didn't know you're supposed to tip" excuse was already wearing thin half a century ago. There isn't a French tourist alive who doesn't know that you're supposed to tip the waitstaff in America.
07/24/2009 - 5:19pmWolverine Photographed in Rocky Mountain National ParkAllan, I always respect sightings made by experienced individuals like your neighbor, even when there are no photographs or other hard evidence. These and other sightings strongly imply that more than one wolverine may be moving though the park. As to whether any are remaining in the area, well, I ...
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